Vancouver, WA Building Permit Review Times: What to Expect and What Stalls

Vancouver runs building and land use review through Community Development, with plans submitted and tracked in ePlans. There is no single published turnaround for a building permit. What decides your calendar is which path the project is on, whether the submittal clears prescreen, and how many correction cycles it takes. This guide covers the clocks that do exist, and the items that most often stop them.

Which path your project is on

• Residential building permit (RES): one to six housing units on one lot, three or fewer floors above grade. New homes, additions, remodels, garages, decks and basement or attic conversions all go here.

• Commercial building permit: more than six units, or more than three stories, plus tenant improvements and other commercial work.

• Land use review first: most new development and most modifications need a development approval before any building permit is issued, a new use is established or site work begins.

• Civil (engineering) review: after land use approval, projects with public or site improvements go through civil review. If the scope needs no civil review, you move straight to the building permit.

How a submittal moves through ePlans

The residential steps, in order:

1. Email the completed application to the City’s ePlans address. Permit staff enter it and send a summary of plan review fees.

2. Pay the plan review fees. ePlans then sends an upload link.

3. Upload plans and documents. Each sheet needs a blank area for the City’s approval stamp, ideally in the upper right corner.

4. Prescreen. Staff confirm every required item is uploaded and named to the City’s standard. Anything missing or misnamed comes back to you, and plan review does not start until it is fixed.

5. Plan review. Each department reviews in parallel and returns Complete, Not Applicable, or Revise and Resubmit.

6. Corrections. You answer each markup in ePlans and upload revised sheets. Reviewers can add new markups while the file is still in review.

The ePlans status screen shows where a file sits. A department listed with no reviewer name means the review has not been picked up yet. A reviewer name with no status means it is in progress.

The clocks that do exist

Land use decisions under the City code

• Completeness: the City must decide within 21 days for Type I and 28 days for Type II and higher.

• Type I: notice of decision within 28 days of a fully complete application.

• Type II: notice of application within 14 days of completeness, then a preliminary decision within 100 days of that notice.

• Type III: final order within 14 days of the hearing and within 90 days of the notice of application.

• Appeal period: 14 days after the decision. The decision takes effect the day after it closes if no appeal is filed.

State review periods since 01-01-2025

Under RCW 36.70B.080, as amended by 2SSB 5290, cities must reach a final decision on project permits within 65 days when no public notice is required, 100 days with public notice, and 170 days with notice and a hearing, counted from the completeness determination. Time spent waiting on the applicant after a written request for information is not counted. The same law removed building permits from the definition of a project permit, so those state periods now govern land use, not building plan review.

Civil review resubmittals

For engineering submittals, the City’s ePlans page sets a 14 day cycle after a Revise for Approval result (minor changes) and a 28 day cycle after Revise and Resubmit. The City’s 2025 annual report says it cut its engineering revision targets to 21 days for second reviews and 14 days for third and later reviews.

How the City has performed

A State Auditor’s Office performance audit, released by the City on 04-02-2024, found Vancouver reviewed 96 percent of land use applications and 93 percent of building permit applications within the then 120 day limit over the prior four years. The City now posts an annual permit performance report under RCW 36.70B on its Community Development reports page.

What stalls a Vancouver permit

• Prescreen bounce-backs. Missing documents, wrong file names and no clear stamp area send the submittal back before a reviewer opens it.

• Skipping the land use step. A building permit filed before the required development approval waits on that approval. Pre-application conferences are required for Type II, Type III and applicant-initiated Type IV, and for Type I when it has seven or more units or critical areas.

• Utility service requests. A Request for Utility Services is needed unless the site had a pre-application conference in the last 365 days or a land use approval in the last 7 years.

• Scope that crosses a line. A seventh unit or a fourth story moves a project from the residential path to the commercial one.

• Missing professionals. Commercial tenant spaces over 4,000 sq ft need a Washington registered architect, and load-bearing changes, heavy equipment supports and tall racks need a registered engineer.

• Separate permits treated as one. Fire sprinklers and alarms, signs, storage racks over 5 ft 9 in and detached structures each need their own permit.

• Partial correction responses. Every unresolved markup or unanswered question keeps the file in Revise and Resubmit, and each extra cycle restarts the review.

Plan ahead for the 2024 code change

Washington’s 2021 codes have been in effect since 03-15-2024. The State Building Code Council’s schedule sets 05-03-2027 as the implementation date for the 2024 building and energy codes. Projects drawn near that date should confirm which edition the City will review against before the set is finished.

Common questions

How long does a Vancouver building permit review take?

The City does not publish one fixed turnaround for building permits. The state 65, 100 and 170 day decision periods apply to land use project permits, and building permits were taken out of that definition on 01-01-2025. A 2024 State Auditor review found the City reviewed 93 percent of building permit applications within the former 120 day limit over the prior four years.

Does the review clock stop while I answer corrections?

Yes, for project permits under RCW 36.70B.080. The time between the City’s written request for more information and your resubmittal is not counted, so slow or partial responses add directly to the calendar.

Why was my submittal returned before review started?

Vancouver prescreens every upload. If an item is missing or a file does not follow the City’s naming standards, the submittal goes back to you and plan review does not start until it is fixed.

Do I need land use approval before a building permit?

For most new development and many modifications, yes. Housing of one to six units on one lot goes straight to the residential building permit, and a parking lot of 10 or fewer spaces starts with a grading permit.

How SASHKOV handles it

• Confirms the review path in writing first: residential or commercial, land use and civil steps, and the separate permits the scope needs.

• Prepares a set and document package built to clear the City’s prescreen on the first upload.

• Brings in the civil, structural or fire protection consultant the project needs, under one contract.

• Answers every markup in ePlans in one complete response and tracks each department through issuance.

Where a building requires a licensed architect or engineer of record, SASHKOV brings them into the contract.

Stuck in a correction cycle? See Corrections and Permit Recovery. For zoning, critical areas and review paths across the county, see Clark County, WA. For work already built without a permit, read the Vancouver stop-work and unpermitted work guide.

Planning a project in Vancouver? Send the address and scope, and SASHKOV will map the review path and the timeline in business days.